Amazon and IPG agree to Terms

I am happy to announce that Amazon and IPG (Independent Publishers Group), the distributor for 35 Miles From Shore, have agreed on new terms for Kindle titles. I applaud IPG for standing firm and not accepting terms that would have greatly affected their ability to remain profitable. It’s easy to argue that there is no need for a middleman when talking about digital titles. Any author can upload a digital file to the Kindle store and sell directly to the public. IPG, however, does much more than simply provide files in the proper format.

IPG doesn’t agree to distribute a book unless that book has been thoroughly reviewed by several different people within the company, just like any major publisher. They also handle the distribution and warehousing of physical books. They handle eBooks for other devices such as the iPad and the Nook. They also handle distribution on a worlwide basis. And they do this all without charging authors for every service. They simply ask for a percentage of net sales. With digital books, that percentage is just 20%. Had Amazon prevailed, IPG’s slim margin would have become even slimmer and could have forced the company out of business.

So if you’ve been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the Kindle version of 35 Miles From Shoreto become available, your wait is over. Amazon has also kept their discount on the Kindle version. You can now get the book for under $8.